parapsychology

parapsychology

the branch of psychology dealing with psychic effects and experiences that appear to fall outside the scope of physical law, e.g., telepathy and clairvoyance.

par·a·psy·chol·o·gy

(par'ă-sī-kol'ŏ-jē),

The study of extrasensory perception, such as thought transference (telepathy) and clairvoyance.

parapsychology

(păr′ə-sī-kŏl′ə-jē)

n.

The study of the evidence for psychological phenomena, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis, that are inexplicable by science.

par′a·psy′cho·log′i·cal(-sī′kə-lŏj′ĭ-kəl) adj.

par′a·psy·chol′o·gist n.

parapsychology

[-sīkol′əjē]

Etymology: Gk, para + psyche, mind, logos, science

a branch of psychology concerned with the study of alleged psychic phenomena, such as clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, and telepathy.

parapsychology

A field that attempts to apply scientific methods to studying “paranormal” phenomena which are unexplained by natural laws and principles of the physical universe (e.g., clairvoyance, precognition, telekinesis, telepathy).

par·a·psy·chol·o·gy

(par'ă-sī-kol'ŏ-jē)

The study of extrasensory perception, such as thought transference (telepathy) and clairvoyance.

parapsychology

The attempted study, by scientific methods, of a range of real or imagined phenomena not explicable by science. The subjects of parapsychology include EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION, telepathy, clairvoyance, spoon-bending and the movement of objects without physical force (telekinesis). The history of science has been a long and painful struggle to escape from the realms of magical thinking and superstition and many scientists are concerned at the possible dangers of conferring a kind of respectability and plausibility on matters which they consider to be without scientific basis.

Chuck also reflected on the exceptional situation in parapsychology in which most counter-advocates were not empirical researchers engaged in psi research, so that their counter-explanations tended to be evaluated on the basis of plausibility rather than on the basis of evidence derived from direct empirical tests.

Liverpool Hope University has seen the number of students opting to study parapsychology rise from 17 nine years ago, to 80 today Parapsychology is offered to all third year psychology students at as an extra subject Matthew said: "This is a course which is growing in popularity.

In this reprint of a collection of journal articles (originally published in 1969 by Transaction Publishers), Schmeidler (professor emeritus of psychology, City University of New York) reviews the history of research on ESP, describes key research findings related to physical, physiological, and psychological factors affecting ESP research, and examines the evolution of criticisms of research in parapsychology.

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